Rivetless fastening between rim and body of a vehicle wheel



July 18, 1961 P. LEMMERZ 2,992,857

RIVETLESS FASTENING BETWEEN RIM AND BODY 0F A VEHICLE WHEEL Filed Dec. 8. 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E. Fq. 2

A, v Q A July 18, 1961 P. LEMMERZ 2,992,857

EIVETLESS EASTENING BETWEEN RIM AND BODY @E A VEHICLE WHEEL Filed Dec. 8, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [ZTI/Em LDT-7 Pau/ A emma/'z United States Patent 2,992,857 RIVETLESS FASTENING BETWEEN RIM AND BODY OF A VEHICLE WHEEL Paul Lemmerz, Konigswinter (Rhine), Germany, assignor to Lemmerz-Werke, G.m.b.H. Filed Dec. 8, 1958, Ser. No. 778,798 Claims priority, application Germany Dec. 20, 1957 3 Claims. (Cl. SUI- 63) The present invention relates to wheel structures and more particularly concerns the fastening together of the tire rim and the wheel body of a vehicle wheel.

While various attempts have heretofore been made to secure a metal tire rim to a disk spider wheel body of a vehicle wheel assembly without the use of rivets, no such prior securing expedients have provided structures capable of safely resisting the forces acting in axial or peripheral directions at high speeds and sudden braking forces or torques.

More especially, the prior techniques or expedients have been unsatisfactory for the employment of tubeless tires, due to the liability of air pervious cracks and thus leakage, since the tire rim provides the radially inner closure wall of the air chamber for a tubeless tire.

It is accordingly an important object of the present invention to provide a new and improved means for securing a vehicle tire rim to a disk spider wheel lbody wherein portions of the contiguous flanges of the rim and body are directly interengaged in a manner to withstand all service requirements with respect to torque and other forces tending to separate the members and which connection at the same time avoids any air permeability through the tire rim portions of the connections.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved connection for securing a tire rim to a wheel body wherein portions of the members themselves are interlockingly pressed in the members.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved method of securing a tire rim and wheel body of a vehicle wheel by the direct connecting of the components without use of rivets or welding.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of certain preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE l is a fragmentary radial sectional detail view through a vehicle assembly comprising a tire rim and a wheel body secured together according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail view through the base ange of the tire rim and the attachment flange of the wheel body of the wheel assembly showing the same in a preliminary stage of formation of one of the rivetless attaching structures, and the dies used in effecting this stage of fastening;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing completion of the fastening structure and the dies utilized therefor;

FIGURE 4 is a radial sectional view through a vehicle wheel, similar to FIGURE 1 but showing a modification of the attaching structure; FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view through the rim and body flanges of the wheel of -FIG- URE 4 showing the fastening structure in a preliminary stage of formation; and

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 but showing the modiiied fastening structure at completion thereof in the dies provided for this purpose.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a multi-flanged, drop center metal tire rim 10 is carried by a pressed metal disk spider wheel body 11. A base tiange 12 of the tire rim has as lCC tightly or snugly as practicable telescopically fitted therein a peripheral generally axially extending attachment flange 13.

Permanent fastening of the tire rim and wheel body into a functionally integral unit is achieved according to the present invention by securing the tire rim base flange 12 and the wheel body attachment flange 13 together in a manner which will hold the components positively united and against coming apart under the most severe operating stresses to which the wheel may be put in service, and also without any danger of cracking or rupture of the material of the fastened flanges of the components so that the tire rim is eiiiciently adapted for use with tubeless tires for which the inner portions of the tire rim and especially the base flange 12 serve as part of the air chamber Wall in conjunction with the tire casing. To this end, the material of one of the telescopically related component anges 12, 13 is directly physically interlockingly pressed into engagement with the material of the companion flange. Thereby, at suitable circumferentially spaced intervals, in the form of FIGURE l, integrally pressed button-like stud protuberances 14, in this instance on the base flange 12, engage in interlockingly internested relation within generally dished hollow pressed dovetail socket embossments 15 complementary thereto in the attachment flange 13. Certain structural features affording unusually effective retention and complete freedom from leakage in the complementary button stud and socket protrusion fastening device `will be described in more detail in connection with FIGURES 2 and 3 disclosing a method of pressing and forming this structure.

In FIGURE 2 there is depicted the first step in the formation of the interlocking stud and socket structure which is accomplished after the tire rim and wheel body have been assembled by telescopically intertting the attachment flange 13 into the base ilange 12. This preliminary assembly is then acted upon by the punch and die means shown including a die member 17, a coactive punch 18 and an article support 19, all mounted in a suitable punch press. Initially the assembled wheel components are placed between the separated punch and die members 17 and 18 with the base flange 13 resting upon the supporting member 19 which is preferably resiliently yieldably mounted in the press as by means of suitable springs (not shown) normally to project above the die punch member 17 which may be mounted rigidly upon the bolster of the press. The press is then actuated to drive the ram thereof on which the punch 18 is mounted to drive the punch into forming engagement against the tire rim base flange 12.

During the forming stroke of the punch 1S, an embossing nose 20 projecting from its lower end presses the ange assembly 12, 13 downwardly toward the punch die 17 as permitted by yielding of the support 19, and in the continuing punching stroke simultaneously draws the engaged limited areas of the base flange 12 and the contiguous lapped area of the attachment ange 13 into a die depression recess 21 in the opposing end face of the die punch 17. This forms the stud 14 and the socket boss 15 as internested generally cup-shaped indentations in the respective flanges.

Although the stud and socket embossments are drawn to substantial depth in the fairly heavy gauge material of the anges 12 'and 13, the lapped relationship of the material of the anges provides mutual support and compensation substantially precluding any tendency toward rupture or cracking. Freedom from rupture is further assured by having all outside corners and coactive, complementary inside corners or grooves of the punch and die members contoured on appropriate radii so that all formed junctures between portions of the pressed or embossed areas themselves and between such areas and the of the ared, button stud 14 within the undercut grooved dovetail socket provided by the embossed projection 15.

In both forms of the invention, the fact that neither of the joined rim or wheel body flanges are punched through and in the displacement of material incident to forming the embossed interlocks complete freedom from cracking or rupture is maintained, high protection against permeability to air through the tire rim is afforded. This means that a wheel in which the tire rim and wheel body are fastened together according to the present invention is more suitable for tubeless tires than prior wheels.

Since the interlocked pressed together indentations are in such rm gripping relation at the sides and bottom of the projecting stud and socket boss and by virtue of the massing and hardening of the material in the working thereof, then all peripherally and axially acting forces arising in operation of the wheel during driving of the vehicle are resisted at even the highest speeds and the most severe braking actions without any danger of the attaching structure breaking loose.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vehicle wheel structure especially adapted for use with tubeless tires, a tire rim having a generally axially extending base flange and adapted to serve as a part of the air chamber in conjunction with a tubeless tire casing, a wheel body for supporting the tire rim and having a generally axially extending peripheral attachment :Bange in lappingly telescoped assembly with said base ilange, one of said ilanges having a hollow embossed protrusion dening a socket opening toward the other of said flanges, and an embossed projection on the other of said flanges tightly nested in said socket, said protrusion and said projection having lapped connecting wall portions in generally dove-tailed relation converging toward an opening from the socket and joining the respective flanges about said opening on a substantial radius juncture and slightly offset from the planes of the flanges in the opposite direction from the projection of the protrusion and projection relative to the anges whereby to assure freedom from air leakage cracks, the opposite terminus of the connecting wall portions being joined on rounded crack-free juncture with lappingly related central wall portions serving strongly to resist drawing-in of the dove-tail terminus of the connecting wall portions whereby to maintain a positive connection of the flanges.

2. In a vehicle wheel structure especially adapted Yfor use with tubeless tires, a tire rim having a generally axially extending base ange and adapted to serve as a part of the air chamber in conjunction with a tubeless tire casing, a wheel body for supporting the tire rim and having a generally axially extending peripheral attachment flange in lappingly telescoped assembly with said base iiange, one of said flanges having a hollow embossed protrusion defining a socket opening toward the other of said ilanges, and an embossed projection on the other of said flanges tightly nested in said socket, said protrusion and said projection having lapped connecting Wall portions in generally dove-tailed relation converging toward an opening from the socket and joining the respective anges about said opening on a substantial radius juncture and slightly offset from the planes of the anges in the opposite direction from the. projection of the protrusion and projection relative to the anges whereby to assure freedom from air leakage cracks, the opposite terminus of the connecting wall portions being joined on rounded crack-free juncture with lappingly related central wall portions serving strongly to resist drawing-in of the dove-tail terminus of the connecting wall portions whereby to maintain a positive connection of the iianges, the juncture of the connecting wall portion and central wall portion of said projection comprising a hardened thickened reinforcing rib anchored in a groove defined by the connecting wall portion and central wall portion of said protrusion within the socket.

3. In a vehicle wheel structure especially adapted for use with a tubeless tire, a tire rim having a generally axially extending base tiange and adapted to serve as part of the air chamber with a tubeless tire carried by the tire rim, a wheel body having a generally axially eX- tending peripheral attachment ilange in lapped engagement with said base flange, and embossed connection permanently securing said anges together against all operating stresses and completely free from any air leakage cracks, said connection comprising a button-like stud of substantially dove-tail cross-sectional shape pressed in one of said flanges and a complementary dove-tail socket embossed in the other of said flanges and retainingly lappingly gripping said stud, juncture of the stud and socket embossment with the respective flanges being on respective rounded cross-section junctures directly with the respective flanges, said stud and socket embossment having central walls and dove-tail side walls all respectively lappingly interengaging and with juncture of the side Walls and central walls being on rounded juncture, the socket embossment providing within the socket thereof at juncture of the central and side walls thereof a groove and the juncture of the side wall and central wall of the socket comprising a thickened hardened reinforcing rib thrusting retainingly into said socket.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,688,146 Klaus Oct. 16, 1928 1,741,716 Hunt Dec. 31, 1929 2,122,557 Canter July 5, 1938 2,321,755 Kost .Tune 15, 1943 2,713,197 Schmidt `luly 19, 1955 2,840,422 Main .Tune 24, 1958 2,876,724 Hillix Mar. 10, 1959 

